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Five iOS Games to Get Excited About in 2014

Before January ends, let me share with you an awesome guest post by fellow blogger Jennifer Birch. She sent me an email awhile back with her own take on games she’s excited about this 2014. Thank you, Jenni! Enjoy!

The year 2014 might be in favour of those born with under the horse sign according to feng shui experts, but we can all agree that Apple users are the luckiest ones. Exciting new games are debuting on the iOS platform this year. As early as in the first quarter, new titles are already raring for their release. Below are some of the most highly anticipated and most-awaited games for iPad and iPhone enthusiasts.

Frontline Commando 2

Coming from Glue (who also made the app store hits such as Zombies Ate My Friends and Eternity Warriors II), it won’t be surprising if this turns out to be an equally brilliant ‘freemium’ action game. While some absolutely abhor this type of business model, others are actually sensible such as the case of Frontline Commando. The original boasts of clean-cut animations and good-enough targeting mechanism, but it is not your run-of-the-mill indie game for the iPhone. It feels deep and immersive with the constant content updates, unlike others that lie rotting as an icon on your gadget until they inevitably turn into a massive byte-waster.

From the previews of the game and the first look of our Kiwi friends (New Zealand got the game last December), it seems like it will be a massive hit.

Hearthstone

The shift to mobile gaming is not an unfamiliar concept in many big companies. Blizzard, makers of the eternally-popular World of Warcraft, recognizes that with its up-and-coming collectible card game (CCG) called Hearthstone. Currently, it is only available for the PC and Mac, but will soon transition to mobile during the middle of this year. With simple system and control requirements, it’s only logical for the them to port this into mobile.

Only a handful (we mean 1 million players) have gained access to the game since it is still in closed beta, but Hearthstone has already amassed a huge following. Maybe it’s because of its Warcraft references or the general addictive nature of CCGs; there is no questioning how large this game will get once the mobile world gets a hold of it.

Asphalt 9

Not exclusive to iOS though, the Asphalt series gained popularity because of its old-school style. Asphalt 8: Airborne was a massive and critical success. Metacritic even gave it a 91, calling it the ‘best iOS arcade racing game series’. This year, an update to this back-to-basics road game is set to be released for both Android and iOS. We predict a polishing of its already top-notch graphics to match the current specs of smartphones (the iPhone 5S has the A7 chip and newer Android phones have similar high-end graphic capacity). O2’s features page mentions that this chip delivers up to twice its predecessor’s performance. To get a preview of what’s to come, check out this trailer of the currently available Asphalt 8: Airborne also from O2’s mobile games.

The Collectibles

Because real time strategy games (RTS) are a dime a dozen on the App Store, it’s hard to get excited about more of these types of games. However, Crytek convinced us with their preview of The Collectibles, an overhead, tactical action mobile game which will be released exclusively for the iOS platform. This game is revolutionary because it will be among the very first RTS games to utilize Apple’s new MFi-supported controller. Curious about what MFi is? Well, this piece of 2014 technology allows any external hardware (controller or accessory) to sync with the iDevices.

The premise is simple: lead a team of five soldiers across the jungle without any casualty. Touchscreen or controller usages are both expected to be available when it gets released.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall

“Berlin. The Flux-State: a stable anarchy enforced by an ever-shifting coalition of megacorps, political factions, and savvy power players. A place where almost anything goes and the right connections can be the difference between success and starvation.”

This is the premise of this upcoming role-playing game (RPG) from Harebrained Schemes, which is probably the most ambitious out of all the RPG titles for the mobile this year. We can’t wait to have a go at this post-modernist game.

What are titles are you looking forward to this year? Tell us your expectations on the comments section below.

About the Author

Jennifer Birch has been scouring the App store for the best apps she might have missed last year. She is now back to writing after using games and technology while on holiday break. Follow her on Techie Doodlers and Twitter.

Note: Images are screencaps/title cards/opening credits of the game are owned by their respective developers/publishers.